British cops searching for Madeleine McCann are set to send sniffer dogs into a shop where a suspect was seen with a young child on the night the three-year-old vanished.

And detectives are prepared to fight for a Portuguese court order which would allow them to sweep the building for clues.

But Met officers in the Algarve hope the business owner will open his doors to their search dogs, rather than launch a long court battle.

There were a number of sightings of a man seen carrying a child towards the beach away from the holiday apartments were Madeleine’s family were staying in Praia da Luz in 2007.

Now detectives are looking at a particular building, believed to be along the same route, where a new witness has said they saw a suspect going inside with a girl.

It is understood the new information has been gathered by detectives working on Operation Grange, the UK probe into Madeleine’s disappearance.

The exact location and nature of the shop business has not been revealed.

But up to a dozen UK officers from Operation Grange are still in Portugal today, together with two sniffer dogs.

British police officers arrive at the police station in Faro, Portugal (Image: Daily Mirror/Julian Hamilton)

The team arrived early today at the Portuguese police headquarters in Faro where it is understood they are discussing the next stage of their investigation with local detectives.

Portuguese TV station SIC broke the news of the shop search.

Their report said: “Other work is still to be confirmed, including searches in a commercial premises in Praia da Luz where someone is said to have seen a man with a child similar to Madeleine entering around the time of her disappearance, a procedure which may require judicial authorisation unless approved by the owner of the premises.”

UK police have been in Portugal since Tuesday, helping with the interviews of four suspects and 11 witnesses.

They have all denied any involvement.

Portuguese police are convinced the men are innocent.

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And today the Mirror told how Portugal’s former Home Secretary launched an astonishing attack on the UK police hunt.

Rui Pereira claimed Portuguese police had been “used and abused” and ordered to work for the British.

He has blasted the operation, calling it ‘absurd’ and claiming Portuguese authorities have been ‘subservient’ to the UK.

And he said his country’s police officers had been used as “outsource workers”.

A Portuguese source close to the investigation has also claimed that this week’s operation had taken the investigation no further forward.

He said: “We’re back where we were seven years ago.”

All four men who were interviewed this week are being treated as “persons of special interest” or arguidos.

They were invited to be interviewed but there have been no arrests.

Last month UK police with sniffer dogs searched three areas of scrubland close to where Madeleine was last seen.